Just a few words by way of introduction to this excellent site!
Bored with my lifestyle and current employment, i've recently decided to invest in my future by going for my PPLH!
Self funding has meant a fairly late start to fulfilling my dream, but i'm enjoyinging my training and i'm not going to let my age get in the way of considering a career change in the future!
My question is this! SHOULD AGE BE A BARRIER?
(Not according to the new age discrimination act! (if your fit and healthy, got my class 1 medical just in case!))
The road is long and hard and i've only just started (4hrs so far) but i've got the enthusiasm and determination to succeed.
As my training progresses i'll come back and give you some feedback,
The lesson updates are in dark red...

Last edited by gusmagoo on Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:19 am; edited 1 time in total

I feel, personally, age is not really an issue. It brings experience, perspective and a greater sense of responsibility. Good things to have when sitting in the pilots seat. Well, it seems that way to me anyway.

I feel, personally, age is not really an issue. It brings experience, perspective and a greater sense of responsibility. Good things to have when sitting in the pilots seat. Well, it seems that way to me anyway.

I agree, having watched my children being born and all the other things that have happened since I was 25 have really reduced my tendancy to panic and make me more aware of whats going on around me other than whats immediatly obvious.

I started flying earlier this year and I'm 36. The grand total of about 7 hours so far!
The CAA will not allow me to fly solo on medical grounds anyway and they won't let me have a licence, but its not stopped me from having a play 'cos its something i've always wanted to do.
Go for it! Good luck

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement, and happy christmas!!!

Started hovering last week on a breezy winters afternoon and soon realised that keeping the "stick" still just 'aint an option! The hover faries had a great afternoon jumping on and off my skids!
Thouroughly enjoyed it though, managing a bit of all 3 controls and towards the end, two at once! Lots more practice to come!
Went for my last lesson of the year early this morning but Liverpool airport was covered with a thick blanket of fog so i only managed a full aircraft check and a chat about carb heat (and a few cups of coffee!)
Roll on next year! Especially as i'm working both Christmas AND New Years Eve this year!

Sorry to hear that you can't go all the way Heli-solo, on the plus side, like you say, you can still get up there and fly! Glad to hear your enjoying it, best wishes...

Last edited by gusmagoo on Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:12 am; edited 1 time in total

Started hovering last week on a breezy winters afternoon and soon realised that keeping the "stick" still just 'aint an option! The hover faries had a great afternoon jumping on and off my skids!

I remember struggling with that during my training. When I flew with another instructor they told me that when things appeared to be "in balance", rather than trying to hold it still I should instead "draw" tiny circles in the air with the cyclic ... and that seemed to work for me!!!

Joined: Oct 12, 2004Posts: 1003Location: EGSY (Sheffield) Once a city with an airport :-(

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:58 pm Post subject:

Hmm - funny thing is, that in ski-ing training they first teach you how to 'snowplough' then spend a couple of years teaching you how NOT to snowplough during the transition to parallel turns (this based on going ski-ing once a year for a week I hasten to add!)

In Heli training (for hovering) I was shown the 'stirring the cyclic' method to begin with as I presume you are never very far away from the point of the compass where input is needed to stay in one place, yet very soon after that you are instructed NOT to stir the cyclic and it soon becomes easy to hover and a more automatic reaction to 'feel' as you become aware of the motion of the heli. I remember being quizzed loudly ("shouted at" is the best translation of that!) "What are you stirring for Paul? Come on Captain - CONTROL IT!"

I could always tell when Captain John was wanting me to wake up and get a grip 'cos he called me Captain! I did and I don't stir now.

Foxy_________________PPL(H)
Schweizer 300

Last edited by Flying Foxy on Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:24 pm; edited 2 times in total

Yea ok Foxy! I take your point, think i'll ask my instructor first before i start doing things "my way!" He'd probably think i was loosing my marbles if i suddenly adopted an uninstructed method. No doubt he'll have heard of it anyway... cheers for the input!

Now i know why pilots smiled at me when i told them i hadn't started yet...
I haven't had the best of conditions recently for doing this and on Friday particularly, i was rubbish, and drove home dejected....
I didn't actually lose control, but i couldn't keep still and at one stage thought i was going to hit the floor with the tail! Gary shouted at me!...
Earlier that week i'd had a wind free day which made the full hour of hovering go like clockwork, i thought i was almost there!
I did however learn something, don't fly when your tired. I had my sleep pattern thrown out by having a busy night shift earlier in the week and really wasn't up to it, i'd even forgotten what and where the govenor was on startup!

Today however was much better.

We hover taxied to the practice area and i got settled into the hover fairly quickly, and it was as blustery as Friday, so was recovering the aircraft on a regular basis (if you know what i mean!). By the end of the lesson i had done about 5 take off and landings, on different surfaces, and apart from nearly toppling us over on the grass whilst taking off (think i gave us both a fright), i felt i'd had a good lesson...
I even just about managed to hover taxi us back to the helischool (downwind!) though the Pilot and passengers of the jumbo we passed that had just landed must have thought we had a problem, it wasn't very gracefull ! My instuctor makes everythin' look so damn easy!!!!
AUTO'S on Friday!!!!

Last edited by gusmagoo on Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:30 am; edited 1 time in total

Chin up... you'll get the hang of it - it just takes patience, time and practice. You're a student; you're allowed to get things wrong or forget something occasionally - it's all part of the learning process. The good thing about making small mistakes is that you sure as hell won't make them again in a hurry.

I have a video somewhere of my first hovering attempts - quite embarrassing to watch now, and I can't even remember not being able to hover. There is so much to learn and take in; and at 90 hours I haven't even scratched the surface, but I intend to make every flight count and fill my buckets of experience.